Beeg Bugs
by Binkatong
Summary: Boots. What happened to her, anyway? Where did she end up? I've decided to answer this question the strangest way possible- Boots gets left behind! No pairings yet, but there will be them. Rating may change if it gets to bloody. Thanks Allie for the Beta!
1. Chapter 1

At first I was going to make an intro, but I still don't know exactly what happened. I'm going to update quickly- I already have chapter 4 done- but not immidately. I want to enjoy the cliffhangers while they last. Plus, you can't go on the website to find out what happens because the server is down! evil laugh Anyway, thank you ILikeAres for betaing every chapter but this one (that's why it stinks so much), and I hope you enjoy.

And thank you 3SmartGirl for pointing out some stuff.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Boots, Gregor, Lizzie, Temp, or anything else in here that relates to TUC. All the rest of the stuff is mine. Mine, I say, MINE!**

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"Boots!" Zoey called from behind. I leaned my rusty old mop against the side of the worn brick wall of the bedroom and turned around. Her smiling face was brown with dirt and grime like the rest of us. Her tattered blue jeans ended inches above her ankle and were ripped in several places. Her white shirt was coated in filth and grass stains, making it look greenish brown.

"What is it?" I asked, tucking a strand of tangled blond hair behind my ear. Her usually lusterless eye twinkled with excitement. She had trouble sleeping, and almost never had enough energy to be cheerful. Almost none of us did.

"I just overheard one of Ms. Harrison's phone calls. Someone's coming for an adoption!" she squeaked. If I was still holding my mop, I would have dropped it. An adoption? No one had made an adoption from this run-down place in months! No wonder she was so giddy.

I nodded. "That's great! Go tell everyone you can. I have to stay here and mop this place up before the Goat Lady gets back and kills me." She laughed. Some of the only real joy here came from making fun of Ms. Harrison, the cruel orphanage director. She punished us whenever she got the chance. Her gray hair, beady eyes and triangular face reminded us of a goat, hence the nickname "Goat Lady."

Zoey scurried off to tell the rest of the orphans, and I went back to mopping, wondering what it would be like to live with a real family. I had one a long time ago. I don't remember when I lost them, or who they were. All I have is names. Gregor, Lizzie, Temp. What kind of name was Temp?

I was lost in my thoughts, absentmindedly humming and sliding my mop across the floor. If I could have a family again. I felt a hand pull my shoulder and twirl me around, forcefully yanking me back into reality. It was Mrs. Harrison, her beady eyes reduced to angry slits.

"Stop slacking and get back to work!" she snarled. My grip on the mop tightened, and I began to scrub the floor vigorously. She snorted, turned around, and went to inspect the rest of the orphanage.

Half an hour passed. I swept away the last patch of dirt from the floor. I sighed with relief, glad that all my hard work paid off. Maybe goat face would actually give me dinner after what happened half an hour ago. Speaking of dinner…

"Boots, dinner time!" Sally called from downstairs. Or was it Jenna? I could only tell the difference between them when I could actually see them, which is a huge accomplishment as it is. They may just be the most identical twins on the planet. I walked down the stairs, and I found out that it really was Sally.

We all sat down over our makeshift meals; soggy pasta with tomato paste, iceberg lettuce covered in vinegar (aka salad), and old, warm two percent milk. We didn't eat yet, even though we were starving. We knew better. Ms. Harrison, who was sitting at the end of the long table, cleared her throat and held up a clipboard.

"Tomorrow afternoon at 3 o-clock PM, the Ashford family will come for an adoption," she announced. We all already knew this, of course. Although everyone had a dignified look on their face (if you didn't, you wouldn't even get dinner), I could tell that almost everyone was boiling over in excitement. "They will adopt only one child, so I expect all of you to be perfect little young ladies tomorrow. If you are not clean and ready to behave tomorrow, you won't even get a chance to be adopted." She glared at me.

She nodded, and we commenced eating.

--

I slid down under my covers, smelling sweet as a rose. Goat Lady let us use the shower for the adoption tomorrow. She mus have really wanted to get rid of us. She flicked the light switch, slammed the door behind her, flicked of the hallway lights, and filled the room with darkness.

At night, most bedrooms always have a little light. A nightlight, the light from the hallway, or even the moon's glow would provide a small amount of light. But we had no windows or hallway lights or nightlights. It was completely dark.

_Five, four, three, two, one, _I counted in my head. When I reached zero, the clicking started right on queue.

Every night since my arrival, a frantic clicking noise would start five seconds after the lights went out. It has never failed to start up once. The strangest thing is, the clicking automatically translates the second it reaches my ears. _Come back, Princess, come back, _it always repeated. I had learned to ignore it a long time ago.

I could have sworn, though, that it said something else right before I dozed off. It might just have been a dream, or maybe my mind was wondering. But I thought I heard it say:

_We know, your family, we know._


	2. Chapter 2

w00t, chapter 2! It actually got betaed this time. This is where it starts to get interesting. evil grin

Thanks Allie for the beta!

**Disclaimer: I don't really own anyone but the random Overlanders and the roaches. I don't own Boots.**

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"Wake up, girls! Get to work! Breakfast is in an hour!" Goat Face shouted angrily, slamming the door. The combination of shouting, slamming and flicking on the lights when you least expect it would send most people tumbling off the bed in surprise. All of us just automatically jumped out of bed, wide awake, knowing that if we weren't we would get a bucket of ice water in the face. Despite the unceremonious wake-up call, we were all bursting with excitement for the day to come. We all had packed our bags in case we were picked (or not, some of the girls are just going to run away if they aren't picked). Now everyone was brushing their teeth and putting on their "nice clothes" that Goat Lady supplied.

I doubled checked my bag. Clothes and toiletry- check. I rummaged through my personal belongings one by one. My cheap MP3 player I got for Christmas from a local charity with a few songs I liked- check. My nearly indestructible shake-and-go flashlights that Lola swiped from Goat Lady- check. Riley (my teddy bear) - check. It looked like everything was in place. I went off to get clean.

We spent the whole time cleaning, as usual. But it wasn't hard back-breaking work; that had all been done yesterday. We just did little things like polishing, dusting, sweeping. Things that would give us the appearance of being happy little angles, for he could walk in at any time.

One or two times I thought I heard something clicking _Come, princess, come, _but against my better judgment I decided it was my imagination and to ignore it. Soon that would become impossible.

_Ding dong, _The doorbell rang. Goat Lady glared at us and mouthed "Be happy or else." We didn't have to be told twice.

Jenna skipped to the door joyfully and opened it. Outside was a tall, handsome man in a blue polo shirt and black slacks. He had neat brown hair, beardless face, and a winning smile that had "important business man" written all over it. Next to him was a slim blonde lady who looked like she could easily get a job as a supermodel. Zoey nearly swooned at the sight of them. Then again, she always seems to be on the brink of loosing consciousness.

"Hello, Mister," she greeted politely in the most innocent voice she could muster. "Come on in." The man and his wife sat down on the old stained couch that should have belonged in the dump. (They say that that's where Goat Lady gets most of her stuff.) We all stood in front of it in a single file line, ready for the interview that we always got when someone came for adoption.

I was close to the end of the line between Zoey and Kayla. Jenna had first dibs.

Waiting in line for your interview is probably one of the worst parts about adoption, next to the fact that you may never see your best friend again if either of you are adopted. No one ever even thinks of adopting me or Zoey, so we're safe. Kayla wasn't so lucky. A few years ago, Alexis was taken, and she was crushed. What would happen if one of my close friends gets adopted? I started to have second thoughts about how excited I should be about this.

_Come, _the click shot through my thoughts like an arrow. I shook my head a few times.

"What's wrong?" Zoey asked, concerned.

"Nothing," I assured her.

_Come. _There it was again.

_Come. _I could sense a small difference in this click from the first two, like it was coming from someone else.

"Did you hear that?" Kayla whispered.

"Hear what?" I tried to sound like nothing weird was going on.

_Come, princess, come. _

"There it was again. I think they're roaches." So she was talking about the clicks.

"Oh, yeah, that. I heard that."

I looked at the wall, which was the place where the clicking was coming from. There it was, a little black insect coming out from under a table. It clicked, I heard _Come. _Another one came out. It started clicking too. Soon the two bugs were in a chorus of clicks, asking their "Princess" to come back.

Another one crawled out and joined them. And another. And another. By the time the line moved, there were at least ten roaches clicking their abdomens off next to the table. Others were starting to take notice. I was beginning to become desperate. If only these bugs would just shut up…

The clicking stopped abruptly. _Thank goodness, _I thought. The silence only lasted a few seconds. One of them began to screech. Everyone's heads turned. Roaches began to spill out everywhere- under the door, from cracks in the wall, even through the open windows.

The perfect little angels were rallied into a frenzy. Everyone was reaching for a high place. The man helped his wife (who had started screaming her head off the second the first bug came out from under the door) up on top of the couch. The twins were on the table, hugging each other and screaming, and Kayla, who's face was looking a bit green, was holding onto the coat hanger for dear life. I jumped and managed the grab hold of the low-hanging chandelier.

The cockroaches gathered at the center of the room where I was hanging, leaving a small circle in case I decided to come down. Not like that would ever happen.

_Come down, Princess, Come down, _They pleaded. My sweaty hands were beginning to make holding on the chandelier nearly impossible. I tightened my grip. They clicked like mad, trying to convince me. This couldn't go on much longer. I had no choice.

"Alright already!" I screamed. The clicks faded. "I'm coming down!" My feet would have slipped and hit the ground anyway, even if I didn't want to come down. I wanted to kill whoever polished that. I let go of the bars, and I felt the tension coming off the roaches fall dramatically. Some of them began to part, leaving a path to the door. One cockroach was left in the gap. _Come, _it clicked, and headed for outside.

Oddly enough, I followed it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Goat Lady shouted at me. "Get away from that thing!" The roaches turned on her and started hissing. She tried to climb onto the bookshelf in fear. She gulped. "Go ahead."

And with that, I walked out the door and into the streets of New York City.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3! Yayz! Not much else to say... Thanks Allie!

**Disclaimer: I just realized that I actually own most of this stuff... The only things I don't own are Boots, New York, and the apartment building (including the grate).**

* * *

I followed the scuttling cockroach down the stairs in front of the apartment. Most people would have just stepped on the insect the second they walked out the door. I just couldn't. Something deep inside me just said no to bug stepping, as it always had. At one point I managed to nearly put my foot over the creepy-crawly, but I stopped. I, possibly the only girl in the world who can't get herself to step on a bug to save her own life, happen to be the one to get kidnapped my roaches. Perfect.

Whatever the cockroach was going to do to me, I had a feeling it would end with a very bruised and battered Boots. Maybe it would bring me to a big cliff in the middle on nowhere and expect me to scale down it. Or maybe it would sacrifice me to the cockroach gods or something of that nature. Oh, why did I do this?

"Wait!" a hoarse familiar voiced called out behind me.

"Zoey…" my voice trailed off when I saw her face. Her skin was tinted red and drenched with sweat, and her expression made it extremely obvious that she really did not want to be there. I wanted to hug her.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm coming with you," she answered. I just gaped at her. That was it. She had officially gone insane from lack of sleep. "Boots, you're my best friend! I'm not going to let you face this alone."

"Fine," I sighed. "Just don't step on the roaches."

_Finished, are you, finished? _the roach asked.

"Yes, I finished." I could have sworn someone stared at me when I talked to a bug on the sidewalk. I would have too. We started walking, but only made it a few feet before someone else called me.

_Wait, princess, wait! _a chorus of frantic clicks "shouted" out from the ally next to the building. I peeked in, and there was my suitcase, floating towards me. As it got closer, I realized that it wasn't floating, but sitting on a cloud of scampering bugs. I lifted the bag off of the roaches' backs and smiled.

_Needs this, princess, needs this? _one from the roach cloud asked.

"Yes, I do need this," I mumbled so only the roaches could hear. "Thanks guys."

The sheet of roaches erupted in cheers if happiness, as if they were overjoyed just to make me happy. No wonder they call me princess.

I fumbled with the suitcase, trying to get it into rolling mode. After a few tries (and a little help from a friend), I managed to get it rolling.

"Boots, what is up with these cockroaches?" she asked me with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Oh, uh, yeah, about that…" I fumbled with my words like I fumbled with my suitcase. "It all started when I showed up at the orphanage…"

You think you've been in a strange situation. But until you try walking through the streets of NYC, following a cockroach to what might be your demise, trying to explain why roaches keep calling you princess to your best friend while hundreds of pedestrians stare at you like you have two heads, you don't even know the meaning of strange.

Zoey could hardly keep up with what I was saying. She kept drifting off, nearly falling asleep on her feet. Every step seemed to take all of her effort. It was a miracle that she could even keep her eyes open.

"Um, Mr. Roach, what's your name?" I asked our guide.

_No name, I have, no name, _it replied.

"Alright then, where are you taking us?" I questioned. I think a few heads turned in our direction, and Zoey nearly collapsed again and leaned on me for support.

_To Regalia, I take you, to Regalia._

I was beginning to wonder where in the world Regalia was when the nameless roach came to an abrupt halt in front of an old apartment building that may have been just as old as the orphanage. The roach turned and went to the entrance.

_Come, _it clicked, and slid under the door. I looked at Zoey, whose eyes were still blank with exhaustion, and shrugged. At least I could pretend she could pay attention. I pushed open the door and walked in.

Luckily the guy at the front was sound asleep, so we were able to creep in unnoticed. No Name Roach was waiting for us at the stairs.

It was slow going up the stairway. Climbing stairs isn't exactly the easiest thing for a bug. After about five minutes, I had had enough. "Get on my hand," I ordered the roach, putting my hand right next to the insect.

_Oh, thank you, Princess, thank you! _it exclaimed, scuttling onto my hand. I continued to tiptoe up the stairs, Zoey silently slumping behind me. I put down the bug at the top, who raced under the door to the left labeled "Laundry." I put my ear to the door. All I could hear is the tapping of bug feet. We came in.

After a few minutes of wandering around the dusty room, we finally found it. The roach was rubbing it's feelers against a grate on the wall. _Pull it, princess's friend, pull it._

"Why does he want me to push it?" Zoey replied groggily.

"I'll do it," I offered. I yanked the grate out from the wall, sending a shower of paint dust onto the floor. Lifting all those couches to get the dust bunnies at the orphanage really paid off.

Zoey absentmindedly stuck her head into the vent. "Whoa, this is cool! I can't even see the bottom…" her voice trailed off as sleep toke her. Her body sagged, and she slid down the hole.

"No!" I screamed, not caring if anyone heard me. I didn't think I would ever be able to do anything stupider than going with that cockroach. But I did.

I jumped after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this took so long, but I had to wait until the forum was back up because I didn't save the whole story. -.- Well, it's finally here, thank Ripred.

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here that was in TUC. Yeah...**

* * *

I regretted jumping the second my feet left the ground.

I didn't expect it to be that deep. I thought it would just be a quick 10 foot drop, and that Zoey was just so dizzy that she couldn't see the bottom. But no - the thing was like a bottomless pit. Zoey's limp body was plummeting down about ten feet away from me.

At first I flailed around in terror and screamed, trying to regain balance. After about 20 seconds of screaming my head off, I got over the terror and stopped. After I thought about it, falling wasn't actually that bad. I did a few flips. It was actually kind of fun!

Then I remembered Zoey. The ground could show up at any moment, and she was just flopping around down there unprepared! I changed into a diving position, which managed to speed me up a bit. I reached out and almost grabbed hold of her shirt, but a strange current swept her to the side and out of my reach. I cursed, twisted to the side, and caught her wrist before she blew away again. Sighing with relief, I pulled her back in and held her close.

The light from the apartment had all since faded, but I could still see thanks to what I guessed was glow-in-the-dark fungus that coated the walls. They illuminated the tunnel in a silvery blue glow just bright enough to see by. The light bounced off the tiny pieces of mica blowing in the currents, making each bit act like a mini disco ball. In my arms, my best friend was sleeping more deeply than she ever had in her life. If you ignore the wind whistling in your ears, the gut wrenching, and the fact that you are most likely falling to your death, it was actually quite… peaceful.

Something bumped the top of my head, thankfully pulling me back into reality. I looked up (which actually isn't that much more comforting than looking down), and there was my suitcase. That roach must have pushed it off after I fell. I guess he wasn't all bad. I grabbed the suitcase. I looked down, and there was the ground. I nearly panicked, but my common sense stopped me.

_This is no time for panicking_, I thought. _I have about 20 seconds before I hit the ground. I have to work fast._

I twisted around onto my back, cupped Zoey between my arms, reached out to my suitcase with both hands. I turned back around so the suitcase was pointing down. I held on tight, wished I had a parachute, and braced for impact.

WHAM! We slammed into the ground. Whatever held the suitcase together caved in. The only thing that kept the bag from completely flattening was the pile of clothes inside. Good thing that pile of clothes was still enough to keep us from dying.

Zoey jolted awake and sat up, knocking me off the travel case. But, before she could register anything, she melted back into oblivion and flopped down onto the ground next to the case. I recovered from the shock and nearly chuckled, but then I realized the searing pain in my left ring finger. I yelped and clutched it, which just made it hurt more. I cursed and shook my hand, and I heard something crack.

I tried to relax, knowing that if I didn't, everything would get worse. I scooted back over to the crumpled suitcase, reached into the side pocket, rooted around a bit, and pulled out my flashlight. The glass was cracked, but it still worked (after a little shake at least).

We were in a circular cavern at least 20 feet in diameter. The ceiling was crowded with hundreds of eerie stalactites of all sizes; one close to us would scrape my back even if I was doing the army crawl. If we had fallen any closer to the right, we would have been skewered on a sharp stalagmite next to us.

I looked over at Zoey. One of her cheeks had a bruise the size of a softball, but other than that she seemed okay. I thought about looking around her a little more, but something told me that this was not the time to strip my best friend down to her underwear. I looked at my hands and almost gagged.

Both my hands looked like they had been stuck in a blender. Several little cuts were scattered around my skin, steadily dripping blood. One especially long gash on my right middle finger had turned the whole finger crimson. For the first time I noticed that I had gotten blood all over my flashlight. But that wasn't the worst of it.

My left ring finger had swollen, making it twice as fat as usual. It bent at an odd angle, and a gash on the tip sent blood trickling down the bluish-purple skin. Whenever I tried to move it, my entire scarlet hand burned in pain.

I yelled something that I really shouldn't repeat. Sadly, nature repeated it for me by echoing it off of the walls, making me even angrier. Why did I follow that cockroach?

Using my right hand and teeth, I managed to tear open the crushed suitcase, grab my cleanest shirt, and wrap it around my left hand. I did the same for my right, but that time I only had my teeth and a balled up shirt on the end of an arm to work with.

I picked up the dusty gray shirt with my teeth, letting the clothing unfold on it's own. Something dropped out of the shirt and landed on my foot. Something hard. I yowled in pain, which only added to my anger and stress. It was just that old MP3 player I brought. I thought about listening to it just to calm my nerves, but I needed to save the battery for later. I tossed it aside (although it was more like a push) and continued to bandage myself up.

After that was done, all that was left to do was to wait. Maybe Ms. Harrison (I was too worried to even call her Goat Lady) called the police. But why would they ever check down an air vent? Besides, she was probably to scared of my roach escorts to do anything about me anyway. I groaned and leaned my head back. It was hopeless — I was going to be stuck down here forever, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Zoey was still fast asleep. The girl who couldn't get to sleep in a nice bed at night could sleep through a ten-minute fall in an air vent in the middle of the day, plus the impact. Strange. Well, when she wakes up, she sure isn't going to be happy.

_Here, she is, here!_ something clicked. I scrambled to my feet.

_Great,_ I thought. _More cockroaches. Just what we need._

I shined my light in the direction the voice came in. "You can come out now!" I called. Insect or not, some company would be good right now. It stepped out from it's hiding place behind a stalagmite.

What I saw left me speechless.

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I hoped you enjoyed it! Thanks Allie for the beta!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 time! Updates are going to be slow from now on. Really, really slow. I'm doing NaNoWriMo, so I might not even write until December. Anyway, thanks Allie for the betaing, **DISCLAIMER: **about me not owning TUC, ect., ect. Enjoy.

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The thing must have been 4 feet long, at least. The top of its shell came all the way up to my breasts, and its feelers could have easily touched my chin. Each segment of its spindly legs probably couldn't even be measured with a basic ruler. In short, biggest bug ever.

I dropped my flashlight, the lower beam of light only making the roach look creepier. Sure, the cockroaches back home were weird, the fall was a bit over the top, but this was completely insane! I slapped myself in the side of the face and winced in pain.

So much for dreaming.

Something in the back of my mind began to poke through, and suddenly this whole experience seemed extremely familiar. Kind of like _déjà vu_, but not quite. It was enough to really send shivers down my spine.

Suddenly, the roach's front legs slipped out from underneath it, sending its whole front half crashing clumsily to the ground. "Princess…" it murmured. Should have seen that coming, but something was different. It toke me a whole ten seconds of staring to figure out that it wasn't clicking.

It was _talking._

Out of all the things that had happened, that took the cake. At least the cockroach was speaking its native tongue when I had talked to them back in the orphanage. But this roach- this gigantic, talking, strait from a horror movie creepy roach- was just too much. The world became blurred and dizzying. I stumbled backwards, passing out in mid fall.

"Princess?"

My eyes flickered open. At least ten antennae hung over me, like some kind of weird Halloween decoration. Only it was real. Why did it have to be real?

I lifted myself into a sitting position, my back aching like heck the entire time, only to come face to face with one of the huge insects. I groaned and flopped onto the cold floor. _Go away, _my mind wailed weakly. _Go away…_

They seemed to get the message. They all backed up a few paces, mumbling and giving each other worried looks. One finally had the guts to ask. "All right, is the princess, all right?"

"No…"

A wave of panic swept through the crowd, causing antenna twitches and horrified squeals. I heard almost all of them mutter the same word, "Regalia… Regalia…"

A sudden rising motion shocked me just enough to lift me from my trance for a few seconds. Not enough to register much though; I slipped out of lucidity quickly. But the one thing I did notice filled me with terror. Zoey, alone, sleeping on the floor, completely oblivious to the giant cockroaches surrounding them. The roaches were moving, dragging me along, and leaving my friend behind.

"No!" I shouted with the little strength I could muster. The roaches slowed to a halt in surprise. "Don't leave her," was all I could moan.

While the rest of the roaches waited, anxious to go on and get me to safety, two of them turned around and flanked either side of the sleeping body. Somehow, gracefully shifting their bodies in just the right manner, managed to slip Zoey onto the first one's back without waking her up. They scuttled straight back to their ranks and the pack started off again.

Deciding that she would keep me company, they had graciously moved the roach with Zoey on its back next to me. By then I had realized that they must have put me on another roaches back, probably the same way they did with Zoey. I silently watched her slow, even breathing, so quiet, so peaceful.

In a few moments, I had drifted off to sleep to the rhythm of the marching roaches.

I was riding, not on a cockroach, but a large, brown furry mass. Two black wings, each large enough for an adult to sleep on without rolling off, beat softly next to me, barely fitting inside the tight stone walls surrounding me. Around me was a set of arms, strong and secure. I looked behind me, and there was the owner of the hands holding me; an average sized, browned eyed, messy haired youth around my age. But even with these common features, he held an air of seriousness and courage around him, like an army man who had lived through many battles. He looked ahead into the darkness blankly and intensively, but when he saw me looking up at him, he beamed down at me with an expression of warmth and love.

The cavern shook. The boy looked up in shock and turned around. I only caught a glimpse of who was behind him, just a leather-clothed arm and a strand of glittering silver hair. The figure spoke, but all that I heard was a bubbling language that I couldn't even begin to understand.

The rumbling became fiercer- the dust that fell from the roof grew into whole rocks, and small water-filled cracks formed in the walls. Whatever she was on began to panic, shaking violently. I cried out to the boy, but he couldn't hear me. He was completely stunned, staring up at the rock face above them. I followed his gaze, and saw why.

A massive fissure opened up, and a burst of water blasted into the cave. The boy held on with all his might, bracing both me and himself for impact. The flow crashed down upon us, forcefully pulling me from his grip. I screamed and tried to grab him, but my arms did not seem to react. I closed my eyes and the water took me, sending me straight into the flooding at the bottom. I paddled as well as I could, gasping for air, but the waves crashed over my face and pulled me under. I opened my eyes, and I was falling through air.

At this point I wasn't dreaming.

I rolled onto the ground from about four feet off the ground, only bruising my forearm on impact. I must have fallen off the roach in my sleep. Something pressed down on my stomach, pushing me back into full lucidity.

Above the swarm, it just looked like a slithering shapeless mass, bodies floating on air. But down below, it was more like a storm of legs, feet pattering down from above like raindrops. They rapidly stepped on me in different places without warning. The whole experience was quite shocking, if no frightening. Then I finally got some warning- A big, hairy foot shooting down like a bullet into my face.

I screamed a short little scream right before it hit me. The roach stopped in its tracks, confused and alarmed. It took a few steps back, looked down, and if it had an expressive face I'm sure it would have had a look of horror.

It bowed down, trembling. "Sorry, princess, sorry!"

"No, no, it's okay," I assured, "it was just an accident, I understand!"

The roach continued to tremble and look away in shame. I sighed. "Oh, stop that already, you're making me feel depressed." The roach, which I was fairly sure was a boy, did as he was told and looked at me, still shaking a bit.

"Look. Making mistakes is a part of life- it happens to everyone. You just happened to almost step on the person you worship. So, when you think about it, you didn't even really so anything. And don't worry, if you did step on me," I patted his shell with a still bloody hand, "I would have forgi-"

I stopped mid sentence. A sharp, indescribable feeling shot through my arm unlike anything I had felt before. It washed over my senses and thoughts, leaving me disconnected and emotionless. Images flashed before my eyes, appearing and disappearing at a speed that most would not be able to comprehend, but somehow I could.

A female roach, relatively slender with long, slim legs and a midnight black shell, looking down at me; running with a swarm of roaches away from unknown danger; several giant mice along the shore of a raging river, dead and rotting; a monstrous furry face above me and a set of claws raking down my forehead; two small boats overflowing with supplies and shadowed passengers on the horizon; tiny white forms swarming around another female roach's body, clicking and squealing. Feelings came with the pictures- happiness, fear, grief, pain, curiosity, love. And then finally a name- Twi. It was over in a split second, stopping as suddenly as it started.

I yelped and stumbled back, panting. And once again, the roaches panicked. All were either afraid or shocked at my sudden reaction. One spoke up. "Okay, is the princess, okay?"

"Yes," I puffed, still trying to catch my breath. "I'm fine, but I have a question." I turned to the roach I just touched, who was completely terrified of the fact that he might have hurt his beloved princess. "What's you name?"

"Twi," he squeaked. I felt dizzy.

"Well, we better go," I announced, dazed. The roaches settled down a bit and prepared to continue, not like it needed much preparation. I tried to get onto the cockroach was carrying me before, but he didn't trust himself with being my transport anymore, so I got on another one. I moved back next to Zoey, who had somehow managed to sleep through all that commotion, and we set off once more for Regalia, wherever it was.

* * *

I personally think this is a pretty cool chapter, but it's my writing, so my opinion doesn't count. Tell me what you think. Review, peoples! :P Thanks for reading!


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